Episode 3

Despite walking on two legs like a human, the creature had about six arms.  

With its three bulging eyes glaring at us, it was clear enough to recognize it as a monster.  

From the rooftop, those glaring red eyes were fixed on us.  

“…..!”  

Reacting to that presence, Seraph and Luminous tensed up and readied themselves.  

“Now that I think about it, we were being chased by that thing, right…?”  

“Yes, that’s right. We need to escape quickly…”  

Seraph and Luminous muttered, clicking their tongues as they got to their feet above me.  

Once the Kyōjū’s gaze shifted from them to me, I felt a chill.  

“…I think it’s hungry.”  

Kyōjū were said to eat humans, after all.  

We locked eyes for a few seconds.  

Oh no… I’ve been targeted.  

“Human! You should run too!”  

At Seraph’s urging, I immediately stood up, but—  

…my legs hurt.  

It seemed I had strained them when I caught Seraph and Luminous earlier.  

“Are you alright?”  

Luminous noticed my pained expression and quickly called out to me.  

But I couldn’t let Seraph and Luminous get involved in this.  

If anything happened to them, I wouldn’t be able to face their fans!  

Most importantly, my past self wouldn’t forgive me.  

“No, I’m fine! You two need to get away—”  

“You think we can just leave you behind?!”  

Luminous shouted as she came over and hoisted me onto her back.  

Although her back was small, she had enough strength to carry me quite well.  

But just as we tried to escape, the Kyōjū leaped from the rooftop to the ground with a thud.  

A dull impact echoed through the air.  

The ground shook for a moment, cracking the concrete beneath us and scattering small debris everywhere.  

The Kyōjū’s landing was heavy, and it glared at us while leaving a faint vibration in the air.  

It was evident just from facing it that the pressure it exuded was immense.  

The surrounding atmosphere felt heavy, as if I were being crushed under the weight of it.  

….Was the protagonist fighting against something like this?  

Sorry about that.  

I should have designed the enemies to be a bit cuter.  

As the creator, I offered my apologies.  

“…Do you think you can run away? Angel, demon…!”  

“Of course we’re going to run!”  

“Seraph!”  

“Yes, leave it to me!”  

The moment Seraph said that, she slammed something to the ground.  

It was a smoke bomb.  

As soon as it hit the ground, white smoke began to fill the area.  

My vision was instantly obscured, and everything faded into a haze.  

The smoke had a sharp, distinct smell, making it hard to breathe.  

“Guh!? Smoke!? You guys! That’s cheating!”  

I was carried by Luminous as we desperately fled from the scene.  

The Kyōjū—it was the greatest threat in this world, a monster born from the negative emotions and despair of humans.  

Kyōjū would attack surrounding beings with their power, amplifying those negative emotions further.  

Only humans who had drawn power through contracts with angels or demons could fight back against Kyōjū.  

Angels and demons excelled at drawing out human strength through contracts. But they couldn’t repel the threat of Kyōjū on their own.  

Their job was to recover souls at risk of becoming Kyōjū. And it was likely that Seraph and Luminous were attacked by that Kyōjū while conducting a recovery operation.  

I had no idea how threatening that Kyōjū was. But right now, we had no choice but to escape.  

As I was carried by Luminous, we ran for our lives.  

Being piggybacked by her felt like a dream come true.  

I could feel her softness and warmth directly from her back.  

Each time her dark purple hair swayed in the wind and brushed against my face, a faintly sweet scent tickled my nose.  

Ah, it felt so good, my heart might explode…  

But that feeling was fleeting.  

This wasn’t a game.  

We were in a life-or-death situation, and I couldn’t simply enjoy it.  

I didn’t know how strong that Kyōjū was. But at the very least, we didn’t have the power to stand against it.  

Angels and demons were a little stronger than ordinary people.  

While they could resist, there was no way they could defeat that Kyōjū.  

That’s why they were desperately trying to escape.  

Running through the city with Seraph and Luminous, we headed towards the ghost district.  

This was an area where Kyōjū had once rampaged, and it was currently being redeveloped, with few people around.  

…Thus, we wouldn’t be dragging any civilians into this. But that also meant we couldn’t expect reinforcements in this area.  

Seraph and Luminous were likely trying to escape there to avoid involving others.  

Feeling the warmth of Luminous’ back, I began to think of a way to break the situation.  

Normally, neither Seraph nor Luminous would die before the game truly began next year.  

I don’t know which one of them the protagonist will choose, but they should be safe until a contract is made with one of them and the story begins.  

—However, that only applies if this world is functioning normally.  

That normalcy could have been disrupted by me, an irregularity.  

Takigawa Yuma— I’m just a mob character who doesn’t appear in the main game.  

If I had lived a normal life, I would have been attending a local prep school, not belonging in the Demon City.  

…In other words, both Seraph and Luminous are not in a story-protected safe situation right now.  

What have I done…?  

Original Author’s Comment:

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This is the start of a new series!

If you enjoyed it, I’d be really grateful if you could [Follow] and [Give a ☆] to encourage me. Your support will keep me motivated to keep writing, so I appreciate it in advance!

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